I felt they were far more punk in the 90's and I'm not into punk (anymore).. I prefer the albums from the 2000s - American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown are my personal favourites. I will admit though Dookie got a lot of playing time on my old multi-cd player back in the day.

I don't think this band is given enough credit for how truly talented they were.
John Sotto is one of the best drummers ever.
Wes Borland has always been an underrated guitar player.
And Fred Durst, for all his flaws, was one of the top front-men ever.

Its exactly like you said LBF .. for about 4-5 years, they were the biggest thing in music.